Cannot boot past "Windows is starting up..."

[Mark]

I am trying to "resurrect" my brother-in-law's computer. At first, it would
not boot at all past the initial black Windows XP splash screen. Using the
Recovery Console, I have rebuilt the boot.ini, and now we can't get past the
blue screen with "Windows is starting up..."

This is not the first time I've had to rebuild his machine's OS... last
time, we simply formatted the Hard Drive and started clean.

Can anyone assist me in getting this machine back on its feet - or am I
going to have to blow away his hard drive and start clean AGAIN??

Thanks,

 

[Rich Barry]

Mark, sounds like you are a perfect candidate for my Fix. Give it a try
before doing a Repair Install or format.


This procedure works great if you can remove your hard drive and attach it
to a working computer. You may have to set the

jumper in the back of the drive to slave or cable select depending on the
other drive configurations. If the computer has a

External hard drive enclosure that would make it easier.

Once everything is connected and running Ok

What I would do is first open Windows Explorer. Go to Tools>Folder
Options>View>Click on Show hidden files and folder and

uncheck Hide protected operating system files.

Then open MyComputer>double click on Your X:\ drive Icon. X represents
whatever Letter this working Computer assigns

to your hard drive.

You should now see a System Volume Folder. Keep double

clicking until you get to the RP numbered folders. Choose a numbered RP
folder about five from the highest. In other words

if the folders are numbered from say 1 to 20 choose RP15.

Then double click the folder and you will see a Snapshot folder. Open and
copy the first five Registry Files.

Then go to C:\Windows\System32\Config folder. Open the folder and paste the
files you copied from the Snapshot folder into the Config folder. Then

find the DEFAULT, SOFTWARE, SAM, SYSTEM

and SECURITY files in the Config Folder. Create a new folder and move the
files into it. Drag and Drop them.

Finally rename the files you copied and pasted by removing the

_REGISTRY_MACHINE_ from each file you copied. That should leave you with
DEFAULT, SOFTWARE, SAM, SYSTEM

and SECURITY files. Restart. Good Luck.

 

[HeyBub]

Mark, sounds like you are a perfect candidate for my Fix. Give it a
try before doing a Repair Install or format.


This procedure works great if you can remove your hard drive and
attach it to a working computer. You may have to set the

jumper in the back of the drive to slave or cable select depending on
the other drive configurations. If the computer has a

External hard drive enclosure that would make it easier.

Once everything is connected and running Ok

What I would do is first open Windows Explorer. Go to Tools>Folder
Options>View>Click on Show hidden files and folder and

uncheck Hide protected operating system files.

Then open MyComputer>double click on Your X:\ drive Icon. X represents
whatever Letter this working Computer assigns

to your hard drive.

You should now see a System Volume Folder. Keep double

clicking until you get to the RP numbered folders. Choose a numbered
RP folder about five from the highest. In other words

if the folders are numbered from say 1 to 20 choose RP15.

Then double click the folder and you will see a Snapshot folder. Open
and copy the first five Registry Files.

Then go to C:\Windows\System32\Config folder. Open the folder and
paste the files you copied from the Snapshot folder into the Config
folder. Then
find the DEFAULT, SOFTWARE, SAM, SYSTEM

and SECURITY files in the Config Folder. Create a new folder and move
the files into it. Drag and Drop them.

Finally rename the files you copied and pasted by removing the

_REGISTRY_MACHINE_ from each file you copied. That should leave you
with DEFAULT, SOFTWARE, SAM, SYSTEM

and SECURITY files. Restart. Good Luck.

Uh, I don't think your suggestion:

"Then go to C:\Windows\System32\Config folder. Open the folder and paste the
files you copied from the Snapshot folder into the Config folder."

Is really a very good idea. For obvious reasons. If the OP actually DID
this, he'd have TWO busted computers.

 

[Mark]

OK, if I understand correctly, I need to install the busted system drive in a
good machine... then affix changes as outlined by Rich. But instead of doing
the "C:\Windows\System32\Config" thing, it needs to be
"X:\Windows\System32\Config"... Yes?? And to be sure I understand the
thing about _REGISTRY_MACHINE_ can you clarify exactly what I am editing
out? Is this something in the filename, or is this something within each
file that needs to be deleted?

I have already set my computer to view hidden system files and fiolders, but
I cannot access the System Volume Information folder on my computer,
ostensibly because it is the "C:\" drive, and that's what is running Windows
at the moment??

Is this a method of copying earlier startup data to a "later" location to be
read during boot? Or exactly what is this accomplishing? I'd like to
understand more about what I'm doing before I actually do it.

Thanks,

 

[Rich Barry]

Mark, the other poster was right. I mistakenly said C: when I meant
X: What you are trying to accomplish is to copy a set of Registry Files
from the Snapshot folder and paste
them into the Config folder of the busted drive. You will have to
rename them by removing the _REGISTRY_MACHINE_ from each one. But before you
do that you have to delete or move the
original five registry files. Sorry for that mixup. X just represents
whatever letter your computer assigns the busted drive. Hope this helps.

 

[Mark]

OK - understood. I'm back at work for the weekend, so this may take me a
couple of days to accomplish. I'll let you know how this works out.

Stay tuned... and thanks!

 

[Rich Barry]

Mark, I would be interested to know how this turns out. Also, thanks to
HeyBub for catching that error.